Jonathan Dwight Carter pled guilty to multiple counts of theft by taking and giving false statements in Jones County Superior Court Monday, and he will be spending the next 30 years paying back the people he wronged.

Assistant District Attorney Keagan Waystack told the court that, as part of the plea negotiations, one of Carter’s three cases was dismissed. The charges in that case were for false statements and false report of a crime.

Sentencing

The defendant received five years each for eight counts of conversion of payments for real property improvement that concerned the building of homes on Graystone Park Drive, Amy Drive, Amanda Drive and Dolly Street in 2008 and 2009.

“This all stems from Mr. Carter accepting money as a contractor in exchange for working on a house. He contracted with the homeowner who would pay him, and he had a subcontractor do the work. But he never paid the subcontractor,” she said.